Mario Balotelli’s Liverpool should be worried about rejuvenated Tottenham Hotspur

Mauricio Pochettino has brought a new positivity to Tottenham Hotspur since taking over (Picture: Getty Images)

A massive morale-boosting game for Spurs before deadline transfer day and the international break. After disposing of AEL Limassol in the second leg of the Europa League qualifier it’s Liverpool at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

With Mauricio Pochettino’s start (Tim Sherwood would call it the ‘best win ratio the club has ever had’) the general vibe is a positive one. It’s early days but the most important ingredient for Spurs has already been taste-tested and it’s pretty sweet. A little bit of confidence and tangible improvement on the pitch means me, you and other Tottenham fans can smile a little. Especially when others are suffering from far more cruel transitional glitches.

We were not great against West Ham but displayed good measures of resolve. The 2-1 away to the Cypriots could be tagged as a great escape, but that little bit of extra quality shone through in the end. At home against QPR, we clawed back some of that missing spark with an entertaining performance. Then more professionalism with another win against Limassol. Pochettino rested players for that one but off the back of four successive wins there should be more momentum pushing towards a good home performance when the Anfield club visit.

It’s the game against Brendan Rodgers newly assembled team that has me contemplating our own avenging. I’ll never forget the 5-0 thrashing with Luis Suarez in unplayable pomp. The contest was akin to a mortally wounded baby fawn looking up at a peckish Godzilla. There was no contest. Just several swift bites. The kind that no one would begrudge Suarez.

Spurs and Andre Villas-Boas had given up weeks before. This game ended AVB. I’ll never forget seeing footage of him on the touchline, watery eyes. An absolute admittance, an epiphany of regret and sorrow.

Liverpool were challenging for the title and Spurs were a shambolic mess. Today is a different day. They’ve sold their own Elvis and bought Milli Vanilli. Fingers crossed. They have the distraction of Champions League and new young players to bed in. It would be impossibly naive to compare one season with a prior one.

Spurs, personnel wise, have not changed much. Players have moved on with young new surprising defensive arrivals along with our latest centre-back acquisition, Argentine Federico Fazio. Pochettino hinting more movement (in and out) might soon follow. Yet Spurs are rejuvenated and thus already a different unit to the one Sherwood took care of after Villas-Boas walked.

In many ways, there’s been a reboot here. Liverpool looked leagues apart from Spurs last time out but it’s far too early in the season to make similar assumptions. It does allow for a lovely confidence boost for the team that might claim the win and there’s always ye olde ‘put down a marker’ for the future.

Liverpool also have Mario Balotelli. The quintessential maverick headline grabber will, naturally, make his debut against Tottenham. A player that stamped on Scott Parker in the infamous 3-2 Eastlands defeat, didn’t get sent off then scored a last-gasp penalty winner.